The Art of Treading Through Thicker Waters
by ellesmer.joe3
Summary: The Hunters of Artemis seek aid and shelter in the elves of Rivendell. Among the faithful servants of Artemis, and a certain elven prince, a mutual friendship blossoms. But it cannot grow into something more than that, lest the gods punish a girl for following her heart. LegolasxOC! pre-Percy Jackson, post-LOTR
1. Chapter 1 - To First Meetings

**please forgive the errors or OOC-ness, if any. i'm not very good at being persistent with the facts *awkward laugh***

**anyway, i hope you enjoy! ^^**

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Legolas parried a strike from Aragorn, then another, then another, and then another until both of them were all but dancing, with swords as their hands that swiftly dove in and out, never touching one or the other. They were beautiful, and yet dangerous. The elf princess Arwen, astonishingly beautiful in silken robes, watched from a safe distance away, clapping in glee, for neither of them could take the advantage, despite the many opportunities that came for one to be defeated. Arwen saw them all. And so did Legolas. But he did not want the battle to end so quickly.

It was high noon when the combating elf decided to end things, for it seemed to have gone on forever. With a graceful flick of his wrist, the sword slipped from Aragorn's hand and fell to the ground. Legolas pointed the sharp end of his weapon upon the human's throat, though making sure that it didn't cut through the soft flesh.

Legolas locked gazes with the mortal. His eyes had not betrayed him, for Aragorn was not suspecting the elf to laugh out loud, lower his sword, and clap him on the back. Though he should have known better than to think Legolas a hard heart. Legolas was one of the people that Aragorn would trust with his life, and, if the time came, give his life for. A good friend indeed.

"Well done, Aragorn, son of Arathorn!" the elf exclaimed, sheathing his sword and draping his arm over the human's shoulder. "You knew that you could not have beaten me, did you not?"

Aragorn couldn't help but smile. "A man can only dream of beating an elf in combat."

"Indeed they can!" Arwen wandered closer to the two friends, smiling from pointed ear to pointed ear solemnly. "That was very beautiful combat fighting, my love. And to you too, Legolas, son of Thranduil. Your efforts in keeping me entertained will forever be remembered!" As the three made their way back to the civilizations of Rivendell laughing, they heard a disturbance in the forest. Nothing was to be seen, however. Everything was peaceful, up until the moment the horns from Rivendell sounded. And yet none of the three saw any Orcs, nor any enemies that might have been a liability to the kingdom.

After climbing a short, but steep, hill, they saw what it was all about.

As Rivendell stood upon the rocks of a river, the sunlight even basking in its glory, an elf could not help but think of why the gates, which were always closed, were being opened. And at first Legolas didn't see the people striding across the bridge and into the gates, but when he did, he was most surprised to find that they were all women.

"Lady Arwen, wha—" he was not able to finish, for the elf princess had already started making her way towards the city, her dark tresses trailing behind her. Aragorn would have stopped to adore the sight of her looking so beautiful if it had been under different circumstances. But, unfortunately, none of them knew who these people were, or why the Lord Elrond was letting them into the city, but they were planning on finding out.

The city was not far away, and in the course of a few minutes, they were running upon the gates and yelling questions to the gatebearer. He kept saying the same thing: "It's them!" As if the company was supposed to know who "they" were.

Legolas had gone on ahead of the man, but he didn't have to go very far in order to find the group that had all but strolled into the city gates. Arwen stood before the group, kneeling, looking down at a body that they seemed to have brought with them. Legolas couldn't see who it was, but seeing the grim faces of the women who knelt with the elf princess, the figure must have been very important to them.

And they were not women. They looked barely the age of 20. The _girls_ wore a very strange form of clothing, the kind that gave people the impression that they had come from the mountains. Legolas very much doubted that they came from there, however. They looked nothing like savages. But they all wore the same thing: thick hooded coats lined with thick white fur—that looked very suspiciously real—with a kind of garment that looked like trousers, but weren't so, for they clung to their long, thin legs so tightly. For footwear, they wore brown fur boots that seemed to have come from the pelt of a bear.

There were _at least_ eight of them, including the figure on the ground, huddled up and looking down at the figure that Arwen was talking so fervently to. She spoke quietly. And Legolas, who had watched friend Aragorn run past him to stand by his lover, gained enough curiosity to go closer.

When he had reached 4 paces away from the company, he found reason why these people would travel all the way to the city of the elves.

Lady Arwen's hand was perched upon the fallen's breast, a soft light emitting from it as Legolas saw the terrible wound. And it was terrible indeed.

Three long marks—ones that could have only come from the claws of some beast—lay beneath the elf princess' fingers. The gashes were so wide that Arwen did not even need to open the girl's coat anymore. Blood streamed from the scratches, so much that it had formed a small puddle upon the girl's chest. But slowly, ever so slowly, it was seeping back into her body. It was then that Legolas heard Arwen's silent chanting, slowly returning the blood that was lost. He knew then that this girl would be alright, so he shifted his gaze to her face, wanting to know who she was that the Lady Arwen would be so gracious as to do the healing herself.

Legolas guessed that, beneath the blood and dirt that surrounded her face, she would have been beautiful. Her features were very prominent; high cheekbones, strong eyebrows… but, even considering these things, she seemed to be the youngest. Because looking around him now, every other girl looked older and more mature than her.

Abashed, the elf caught himself, and then offered his hand to the injured girl. "Lady Arwen, let me—"

Before he could finish his offer, one of the girls, the oldest, it seemed, jumped up. Her hood had fallen, revealing silver hair the colour of the moon, and eyes just as strikingly beautiful, though they were blue. Legolas could not help but see the specks of gold in them. Her complexion was pale, just as pale as his kin's, yet maybe slightly darker. The elf prince would have assessed the girl's prominent features further if it had not been for the arrow pointed at his head. She seemed to have procured it from her back in the blink of an eye. Legolas couldn't help admiring her reaction time: less than a second.

"Another move," she started, "and I shall bury this arrow shaft in thy head, _man_." She didn't fear the elves. Her voice didn't waver, neither did her hand, which was curved around the fletching perfectly. Had he done something wrong? Legolas thought the idea of hurting an injured _guest_ was completely absurd! Was his hand—

"It is alright. He will not harm your friend." Arwen stated gently, right before she pulled Aragorn down and whispered something in his ear. Legolas watched as the girl with the silver hair narrowed her eyes suspiciously as the man jogged away, casting one last look at his direction before disappearing behind the city walls. But then another girl, also with her hood down, but this time revealing hair the colour of the leaves during autumn time, put her hand on the silver-haired girl's arm, muttering something soft under her breath that Legolas did not understand. It was enough, however, for the girl lowered her bow, replying in the same tone, but not with disrespect.

Taking this as a sign, he asked, "Where is he going?"

"To find my father." Arwen replied, then raised her head to meet the anxious eyes of everyone, including the son of Thranduil. "This girl must be taken to the healers at once if the wound is to stay closed." A pair, sisters, stood up immediately, but then seemed to have thought better of their actions.

They cast a sidelong glance at the girl with the auburn hair. "May we, my lady?" one of them said, the taller one. _My lady?_ Their mistress nodded her head with a soft smile. The sisters then lifted their wounded comrade off the ground as easily as they would with a pup.

"Do you remember where they are?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Then go with haste. And you lot," Legolas guessed that she meant the other females of their group, "are allowed to leave." She said, smiling. "This is personal business." The elf watching by the sides knew that she did not mean this negatively. But…

_Remember?_ How could they _remember_? Legolas knew that for one to remember, one had to have _been_.

Legolas watched as the remaining females left, all except for the silver-haired girl. "Lady Arwen, wha—"

"It's been a long time, my friend." Arwen said. She locked gazes with the youngest of the group. The girl with the hair the colour of autumn.

"Much too long, Lady Arwen Evenstar."

The two women shared a hug, and as the events drew on in front of him, Legolas could not help but feel envious of the girl with the silver hair. She did not look surprised at anything at all, neither did the rest of her company. They only watched with blank eyes. He didn't know what to think.

He didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to do, and he didn't know what to say. So he did what he thought was proper and respectable, but what friend Aragorn would deem foolish any day.

Legolas inched closer to the girl with the silver hair, and, talking quietly, smiled, "Your mistress has met Lady Arwen before?"

"Not that I was there for the first time, but yes, Lady Artemis has met thy kind before, a long, long time ago." She answered, almost bitterly, though her eyes never left the girl with the hair the colour of autumn, the one she called Artemis. The elf could not help but think of how old she must have been. Young as she might seem, how 'long ago' did this girl mean? "Has thee had the honour of being introduced to my lady?"

"If I did, it was probably a very long time ago as well, too long for me to remember." As much as he tried, Legolas didn't get the youth to smile. Her face remained as blank as always, still keeping her gaze locked on the one known as Artemis—an odd name for one who did not look like the virgin deity—and as other elves, other _royal_ elves, would think this to be insulting, Legolas was not affronted. He felt refreshed, in fact.

Thinking of finally introducing himself, he held his hand out. "I am Legolas, son of Thranduil, Prince of Mirkwood—" He honestly hadn't known what he had done to put him in such an unsafe position _again_. All he knew was that one second his hand was in front of the girl, merely wishing for a handshake or something of the sort, and the next his offer for a proper greeting had been slapped away, instead being replaced by the broadhead of an arrow, _her_ arrow, that was, once again, pointed at his head. Between his eyes, to be exact.

The elf prince took an alarmed step back, holding his hands up as a sign of innocence. The girl with silver hair, unaware of Legolas' true motives, bared her teeth in a deadly snarl. "If you _ever_ try to touch me again, I swear to the gods and goddesses in Olympus that I will—"

"Senna." It acted like a slap to the face; it seemed to Legolas, for as soon as the silver-haired girl's ear twitched with recognition—was that her name? Senna?—her grip on the string softened, and her bow, lowered. Her head tilted downwards, she turned to face her Lady Artemis, a look of dishonour upon her features. But she found the courage to raise her head, and when she did, to her surprise, a gentle smile from her mistress greeted her. "The elven men here do not mean to touch you, Senna. Alleviate yourself with this knowledge in mind."

"Yes, my lady." Senna answered immediately, looking as though she had not a care in the world other than to please the lady Artemis. Legolas could have understood why. And as grateful as he was to the one who had saved him from further hostility, his questions were yet to be answered.

He stuttered, "Forgive me, I did not mean to insult. I only meant to—"

"Stand down, Greenleaf." Arwen cut him off, and though it was not unkindly, the firmness in her voice made enough sense to Legolas for him to obey and keep quiet. As much as he trusted that his kin would explain everything he would want to know about, he couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable around the people who knew what was going on.

It seemed to him that the girl, Senna, did not hate him. Her actions were very considerable up until the point that she threatened to kill him a second time, for reasons Legolas had yet to know about. She only lashed out on him extremely when he had almost touched her.

Was that her insecurity? Was it that she did not want to be touched? Artemis _had_ mentioned something about something of the sort, that the elves in Rivendell "did not mean to touch" her.

Again, Legolas had to wait for more answers.

"Of course, Lady Arwen." He answered, inclining his head politely before backing away—_very slowly_. Senna's eyes trailed after him, narrowed like a hawk's, her limbs slightly bent like a cat's. Nevertheless the elf kept his mouth shut, waiting for further urgent orders from Arwen.

But it was Artemis that spoke next, her words pointed to the only female youth left in the company that had not left aside from herself. "Senna, go and attend to your sisters."

"… leave you, my lady?" The girl seemed utterly surprised that Artemis would suggest such a thing.

But the lead maiden herself expected a different reaction. "I will be fine, Senna, and though I appreciate your concern for me, I am sure Hayley needs it more than I."

Senna, knowing that these words were true, and that hers weren't very smart at all, nodded her head. "Of course, Lady Artemis." There was still one problem, however, one that she did not want to admit, though she needed to, because it would only bring more complications. She didn't need to say anything for her mistress to have understood. The girl with auburn hair smiled, a glint in her eyes, before muttering something into Lady Arwen's ear. Senna blushed slightly, but took enough care to keep a straight face. Though Legolas, who had kept a safe distance away from her, saw this but did not understand. Nor did he know who Hayley was, nor why Senna was shocked by Artemis' proposal of leaving her.

Arwen, who had watched Legolas staring at the girl for almost the whole conversation, issued forth a laugh that successfully lightened the mood. She had heard Artemis' plead, which was Senna's as well, and would comply. "I will have someone escort you to your kinsfolk as soon as you enter the city, daughter of Dana."

It did not shock Senna that this woman knew who her mother was. And she trusted her enough to understand her predicament and send a female consort to lead her to their city's healers. "Thou shall have my gratitude, Lady Arwen." And as she bowed low, she also heard approaching footsteps, though it was nearly impossible to hear. They were so light; anyone else would have thought that it was the wind making the grass sway, or a squirrel climbing up a tree.

Senna heard Artemis' voice. "Greetings, Lord Elrond."

"It has been a while, Lady Artemis." A deep voice replied. Senna looked up to find a man with dark, flowing hair that cascaded down his back. He had a firm face, one that, without the creases, would have looked almost like Arwen. She guessed that they were kin, then. "I have heard that your Hunters have brought a dying girl to our healers…" his voice took on a grim tone; a shadow seemed to cross his face as he continued. "What has happened during your journeys?"

"We weren't originally headed here…" Artemis answered, and as she did, Senna's head drooped low, remembering the horrible events that occurred during the night, the events that had caused their comrade's safety.

So, not wanting to hear any more, she excused herself with a bow, turned, and strode towards the city, trying to keep the overbearing thoughts of the possible dangers that Artemis might have to overcome. She hardly knew these people. And Senna wasn't a very trusting person.

The last thing she heard of their conversation was: "We will not be so unprepared the next time."

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**reviews pleaaassee~~ 3**


	2. Chapter 2 - Yesterday is History

**new chapter :)**

**(i do not own the Hunters of Artemis or the LOTR world, only my OC, Senna, and the plot of this story.)**

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The girls—Hunters, as everyone else would call them—stayed in Rivendell for almost a week. And in those seven days Legolas had come to learn more about them than before. He did not hear the answers he craved for in any of their mouths personally, of course. That would have been foolish beyond reason. No, Lady Arwen was the one who told him of their ways; the oaths that they had made to be bound forever to servitude, to remain maidens until the end of their time. It was for this reason, and this reason only, that Legolas could not look them in the eye or give them a simple greeting, a nod of the head, whenever he passed by them in the halls of Rivendell.

Arwen had told him too, however, of the time when the Hunters still very much respected the existence of men. Now, only the men who had proven themselves would gain the approval of the company. And as Legolas recalled what had occurred on that first day, he was still very far off from receiving their support. "Do not worry so much about such things, Greenleaf. You'll only have to bear with them for 4 more days. And it is always a while before they come again."

Aside from these, it was Lord Elrond who had told Legolas who Lady Artemis _really_ was.

"She is Artemis," he had said, "daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin-sister of Apollo, patron of maidens, and goddess of the hunt. The moon is her companion in battle, and her maidens, the Hunters of Artemis, her sisters in siege." The elder elf had looked down upon Legolas, a smirk gracing his features as he said something that unnerved him, and he had not been unnerved ever since the Battle on Blackrock, in which half of his kin died protecting the boundaries of their city. It was since very hard to unnerve Legolas. But when Lord Elrond said these words, he was demoralized. The elf had said, "You have the respect of a goddess. Do not look so grim, Greenleaf. It is an honour to have her defend you from one of her own."

Should he have been proud? Should he have been happy that that had happened? Legolas was not sure.

And yet, fate seemed to be against his favour at the time, for as he was sitting in one of the many courtyards of the city, reading words jumping out of the crispy pages of a book from the library of the elves, he saw, from the corner of his eye, a figure flitting from view. It was human, that much he was sure of, but as a tiny ray of sunlight blinded him for a matter of seconds, it was already too late to tell who it was. But Legolas was also sure of seeing something else: a bow.

A bow and a sheath of arrows, to be exact. But that was enough; that… and the fact that a flowing ripple of silver hair followed it. He knew who it was then. And he was, as much as he hated it, utterly intrigued. If the Hunters carried around such beautiful and well-carved bows, they must have owned the great ability of using them skilfully. Why else would Artemis go to such extents, to craft such a majestic weapon if it wasn't going to be used properly enough anyway?

Sooner rather than later, Legolas found himself standing in the middle of a field, the same field in which he first met the Hunters of Artemis, as well as Artemis himself. But this was also where he first saw—or, rather, was first threatened, by Senna. Now, Legolas looked upon the same girl, in the same light, but in a very different view of things. He knew not whether to stay there, just watching her, for she was alone, like a dishonourable man, or to make his presence known. The latter was very much the most respectful thing to do. But Legolas knew, that if he did this, then the girl would not continue her shooting. And he didn't want that. He wanted to see for himself what these Hunters were made of. Yet still his inner prince told him to just turn away before his being there on the field made a mess of things.

Before he could make another move, before he could even draw breath that would always often make up any decision of his, Senna sighed. "I know you are there."

And just like that, before even a second passed, a millisecond before a sudden gust of wind descended upon them, making both their cloak's rustle behind their backs, the girl had shocked Legolas into silence once again. It was the second time now, the first being the time when she had been so straightforwardly honest with him. People past by him and left without ever telling him something about himself that only they noticed, that he, never in a thousand years, would find out. There this girl was, telling him how affronted she was in his presence. Not many of his kind would tell him that.

He knew not what to say. So, "How?" He wanted to know. As far as he knew, he had kept his pace slow enough not to make the birds fly, but fast enough for him to be able to keep the girl within eyesight. Compliments, he had gotten, even from the Lady Arwen herself, saying that even in a trek through the thickest layers of snow, he would have the lightest steps. He could not be heard.

"Thy footsteps are louder than a bear's trekking." And yet, here this girl, Senna, came, saying that he knew not how to keep his feet light. "You should be thankful my bow was not drawn, otherwise I might have killed thee."

Legolas nodded. But then a thought occurred to him, and he found himself swallowing a rather large lump in his throat as he asked, "Would you have been satisfied then? If you had killed me?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to take them back. Because the taste that it left had seemed too bitter, the feel of it rolling off his tongue had felt so strange, like it was dry ice slipping off his fingertips. "I—My apologies." He said quickly, stuttering. "I didn't mean it like that. I just—I—"

"Oh, don't make a fool of yourself." She interrupted. A hint of mirth laced her voice as she turned to face him. "Legolas, son of Thranduil, and Prince of Mirkwood."

His eyes widened, surprise clear on his face, because he had never thought that Senna would have paid attention while he introduced himself. She seemed bent on slaying him as he did. "You remember me?"

Senna raised her chin. "I do not forget a name once it has been told."

"Forgive me..." Legolas said, and after a moment of deep thought, he asked, "You hate men, do you not?"

"I do." Legolas didn't have to say anything more. She had already caught on. And when she did, which was soon enough, a smile graced her features. "I know what thee are thinking, son of Thranduil. You think that, if I should hate men, why should I go through the difficulties of trying to remember names that I do not want to hear?" She gazed up at me. "Are these words correct?"

"Yes."

Senna sighed, relaxing her hands, which had previously been gripping her bow so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "You are a smart man then, Legolas." She said, looking away from him and turning her gaze to the horizon, which was high above the clouds but still seen, and it looked majestic. "I do hate men. I hate them with every fibre of my being. They are cowards. They speak and tell tales of bravery, but what do they do when faced with a real enemy, a truly overpowering prowess? They run away with their tails between their legs, whimpering for their mothers!"

Legolas couldn't say that he wasn't offended, because, as much as he didn't want to be, he was.

Yet to his much unexpected glee, Senna followed that upsetting statement with: "But I do not hate _you_, Legolas, son of Thranduil." He had gained the courage to stand by her side, trusting that she would not stab his back with one of her arrows. She did not turn to look upon his face, though, and some part of Legolas was happy that she hadn't, afraid that it would have crossed the line. She did resume speaking, however. She said, "Lady Artemis has told me that your kin are an honourable people, that _you_, Greenleaf, are an honourable man—" amusement crept into her voice as she said the next and final line "—and that Lord Elrond would banish any elf who would dare lay their hands upon my sisters, or our mistress."

Legolas couldn't help but to smile, for he knew that these words were very true. However kind and gentle Lord Elrond was, he was not very merciful to traitors. "That is not a lie."

"I never thought it was." She didn't say anything else for a while. Just stared at the sky. Lost in the beauty of it. She didn't get to see such views very often. Her company was almost never stayed put in one place, always walking, always moving forward. And Senna loved it, the journey. She just wished she could have seen views such as this more frequently. "So why did thy kind decide to call thee 'Greenleaf'?"

"My father's name was Thranduil Greenleaf. He was also called the Elvenking." Legolas answered, remembering him as he used to look upon him during his childhood. The memory had never faded from his mind, not even after two thousand years.

"So," she continued, "you are the… Elven_prince_ then?"

Legolas' gaze dropped back down to the girl beside him. He replied with a quick, "Yes." She did not say more on the subject.

They were both very quiet for a short span of time, Senna looking upon the horizon, the sun floating high on the green hills, and Legolas looking upon her, trying to analyse her, trying to _read_ her. It was impossible. Until finally: "Ye should stop staring at me, son of Thranduil." He looked away immediately, turning his gaze to the hills in front of them, and found someone walking on them. The first thing Legolas noticed was the shining autumn-coloured hair that lay upon the figure's head, and he only knew one person who had that kind of hair.

"Where is she going?" he asked, already starting to back away, ready to run to the lords of Rivendell as soon as Senna said the words.

But she did not say what he had expected she would say. Instead, what she replied was: "Hunting."

"She is not going to stay?" Legolas had thought her the kind of woman who would stay and guard her kinswomen. Was he wrong?

"Oh, she will come back." Senna stated, dismissing Legolas' inappropriate thoughts with a wave of her hand. "Right after she slays the beast that inflicted the fatal wounds upon Hayley. And trust me when I say," her head tilted to the side slightly, enough for her eyes to meet with his, only from the corners, "she _will_ find it."

"I do not doubt your word about it."

A gust of warm wind fell upon them, and with both their hair windswept and glistening under the sun, Legolas felt alive. Because he had finally found out that this girl didn't hate him, that she seemed quite content in his company, and that neither of them felt awkward around each other. He hadn't found such a person since meeting Gimli, but he had returned to his kinsmen, to his kingdom. And Legolas was left to befriend Aragorn, king of Gondor, until the day that he would have to return to his city.

Legolas didn't like thinking about such things, because as soon as he started, everything else seemed so complicated than they were supposed to be. And he hated whenever that happened. So, wanting to get his mind off it, he asked, "So what are you then?"

Senna got the wrong impression, apparently. Her eyebrows furrowed and a shadow passed over her features as she warned, "Tread carefully, Son of Thranduil."

"I did not mean it like that." He said promptly, "Let me rephrase my question."

The girl beside him, to his great relief, softened her grip on her bow, and said, "Continue."

"It's just something I've noticed, but…" he looked at his companion expectantly, waiting to find the impatience in her eyes, but he found none. And Senna smiled, nodding for him to resume. So he did. "You follow her wherever she goes. I've seen you in the halls, trailing behind her, no matter how furious her face seemed." Legolas didn't want to know why she looked that way, so he didn't ask. "When she tells you to do something, you do it, without question. But when she tells you to leave her to be alone, you are very… reluctant." Senna opened her lips to speak and explain everything, but Legolas stopped her short, just as the words were escaping her throat. "Also," he said, holding a finger up to Senna, effectively making her shut her mouth once more. And though the smile had faded, she nodded. "You look upon her face as if you were looking at a god." The girl laughed, and Legolas did as well when he noticed the error in his words. "Alright, I know that she _is_, in fact, a goddess, but the way you look at her…"

He couldn't find the right words to express how he imagined it in his head. And when he finally did, he grew afraid that they might have been the wrong words to say. He said, "You look at her as if she was your whole world."

For once in her life, Senna was speechless. Because as the elf continued speaking, she realized that he was describing to her _everything_ she knew about herself. "When you follow her, I see a glint in your eyes that is just what I see whenever you look upon the sun. When you are speaking to her, I see your chin held high and stomach held in. There is always a curve to your lips when I see you watching her talking with Lady Arwen and Lord Elrond. It's as if…"

She could have begged him to continue, but as the situation showed, she could only wait and stare at him, wait for him to tell her who she was. Because she didn't want to forget, _ever_.

"It's as if a babe was looking upon her from the first time, still raw and red and wet from coming out of _her_ womb, but as soon as it sees _her_ face, _her_ eyes, everything just seemed alright in the world. And then the babe started crying, because it thought that it was being carried away from her mother and into the darkness beyond into which it could not see. But the truth was, it was only being prepared to be suitable for its mother."

Senna stared at him, looked at him in shock and surprise, because everything that he had said to her, it was her entire life.

Should she tell him? Should he reveal _everything_ to him? Would it have been safe? She saw nothing dark about him. Everything was honest, and kind, and gentle. Everything she would have seen in her best friend was within this man. And then her decision was made.

"She is not my mother, nor I her daughter." Senna started, turning her gaze to the hills, though she knew that Artemis was not there anymore. "But she is everything I knew my mother would have been.

"My mother died when she gave birth to me. I never got to stare upon her face. I grew up without a parent, wandering cities and roaming empty towns, until finally the day came when fate was in my favour." Senna remembered _everything_ so clearly in her head; it was as if she was living the experience again. "I found her, Artemis, walking in the halls of her temple. I looked at her and said, 'Who are you?' And she answered me, smiling, and I swear I had never seen anything so beautiful before. She said, 'Anything you want me to be.' That was the day I said the oath, binding myself to her, for I had nothing else to live for. But as soon as I got to sleep in a warm bed, surrounded by sisters I never thought I'd have, I knew that life wasn't as cruel as I thought it was."

She was finished, Legolas knew. And then all of a sudden, he saw her in a whole different light.

"Until now," Senna said, clearing her throat, avoiding the elf's eyes, it seemed, "I don't see her as some merciless goddess of the hunt." She looked up at the sky, then, as if she was thinking of what to say next. Legolas was just about to say that she didn't have to continue, but before he could, she did anyway. "I saw her as my mother, as a sister, as a friend, as someone I could talk to when I had no one else…" There was a pause, and Legolas couldn't help but to look at the girl who was now revealing everything about herself to him. He thought of stopping her, because who was he to know all these things? He wasn't anybody to her, surely! This was only the second time they had talked, the _first_ time she hadn't tried to kill him. He didn't need to, he didn't _want_ to know these things about her, because he wasn't sure that he could be a good friend and keep it just between her and him.

Senna finally looked at him, the truth about herself behind her eyes. She was going to put down her guard, pull away the curtains that was all that stood between her and the world. Legolas watched in wonder.

"She was everything I wanted her to be."

Legolas had no idea what to say, honestly. Everything that he had heard was all he saw in Senna now. A baby in her dead mother's arms, an orphan cradled in the darkness of an empty street, a kid who had found someone to look up to, after years of living alone and unloved. What was he to say?

They stood there on the pale white tiles of Rivendell, their eyes never meeting, their skin never touching, yet the mere presence of each other was enough as they let silence change the course of their exchange.

Senna sighed, closing her eyes and praying to the gods that all that she had said, all that she had revealed, was safe and kept away in this elf's subconscious. "Does thee have anything to say about my life story, son of Thranduil?"

He didn't. So, he just dismissed it with a slight smile and a shake of his head. "Only that my past isn't as enlightening."

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**again, sorry for any OOC-ness or any inconsistencies, but please, REVIEW. :)**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Darker Shade of Silver

**is anyone reading this yet? :)**

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Legolas didn't see her, Senna, again for quite some time after that encounter. The sun passed over Rivendell once, as did the moon, then twice. And it was after that second time that he saw her again. He was just passing by the quarters of the healers, just as he always did whenever heading for the dining hall, but something was different. The air inside was not as buoyant, not as alive. It always was, for that was where elves came to be reborn again by the healers' waters.

It wasn't just her that time, though. She was with her sisters. Artemis was there as well. And at that fact, Legolas was surprised. He didn't even know she had gotten back yet.

"Hello, prince of Mirkwood." Just by the choice of words did Legolas know that it wasn't Senna who was speaking, because she always called him 'Son of Thranduil'. It was Artemis who had greeted him.

"Lady Artemis." He swept his arm under his chest, inclining his head low, a formal salutation in Rivendell, though his eyes never left the goddess'. "Is everything quite alright, my lady?" Legolas had noticed the melancholy tone in her voice, as well as the grimness on her otherwise graceful face. It was the same for the others. And he soon grew anxious.

"No, actually." Her eyebrows furrowed, and he thought that he might have seen the shining outline of a tear by her cheek, but in the darkness of the room, it was hard to say for sure. Artemis gulped. "Would you send Lord Elrond a message for me?"

"Of course, my lady." Was all he could say, and even then the words almost didn't escape his mouth, because the scene playing before him was much too familiar; Artemis facing him, the girls hunched over an unmoving figure placed on the softness of a feather bed, the sadness. He had seen it all before, yet when he had looked upon it the first time, he had prayed to the gods, old and new, that he would never look upon such a thing again. The gods didn't seem very merciful that day.

Because there laid Hayley, her skin pale, her mouth agape ever so slightly. But the thing that scared Legolas the most was her eyes. They stared up at the ceiling, unblinking, unseeing. They gazed at nothing but darkness, he knew, because the colours in her eyes were now gone, now turning black with the white haze of death.

She was dead.

Legolas couldn't tear his eyes away from her pale form, because as he had never even talked to her, never even knew _anything_ about her but her name, he knew that she had meant a great deal to these people. And now she was gone. And he couldn't begin to imagine losing someone as close to him as she was to the Hunters, to Artemis.

He managed to swallow down his sudden grief and asked, "What happened, my lady?" Legolas didn't care how he looked like to the Hunters, or to the goddess, or to the healers who hadn't left the room and were tending to Hayley's lifeless body. Be it heartless, or uncaring, or anything in-between, because he knew that he was anything but.

"A fever struck her in the middle of the night." Artemis replied, her voice cracking at the last word. "By the time the healers had come to check on her, she was long gone." The goddess' voice was nothing more than a whisper, but in the deathly silence, he could hear every word.

"That cannot be true!" Legolas found the mere thought of it foolish, remembering everything that Arwen had told him about the Hunters. "Hunters can only die—"

"—in means of battle." Artemis interrupted him, not unkindly, though. By her tone, she seemed to be pointing out something. "Yes, I know." She closed her eyes, as if trying to hold back tears. "It seemed that she was _meant_ to die in the hands of that… _beast_." The last word was said with an immeasurable amount of hatred. Loathing dripped off every syllable of it. "She would not have died if it wasn't her time to. The Fates would never have allowed it." The goddess sighed, and that was when Legolas saw a teardrop fall from her eye. It shimmered as it fell, sliding down her cheek, more so as it freefell through the air and onto the cold hard floor. "But, it seems her thread was cut too short."

Senna was the only one who did not kneel. She stood there, looking down at her companion, her friend, her sister, who had passed away. She was anything but unsure that Hayley had made it to Elysium. That was her rightful place. Her spirit did not deserve eternal damnation at the Fields of Punishment. If anything, she deserved to live on in Elysium. And besides, if Hades so decided to take her soul to the Fields, Lady Artemis would just beat him up and force him to do otherwise.

Yes, Senna was positive that Hayley would not suffer. Bearing these comforting thoughts in mind, she did not weep. But this did not change the fact that she was disheartened at her sister's death. It was amazing how the tables swiftly turned, suddenly against your favour when only seconds ago were they standing by your side. Such was the way of the Fates. One would think that they were unmerciful and cruel, but truthfully, this was what they were meant to do. No one hated them for it; no one despised them for taking away their loved ones, because all any one man could do was watch.

As her sisters sniffled and grieved for their fallen friend, Senna cast one last, longing look to Hayley, knowing that she could not be brought back anymore, turned away, fixed her gaze forward, and walked stiffly to stand by Artemis's side. From the corner of her eye, she saw the goddess smile, but even that did not mask her true anguish. It took all of Senna's willpower to keep the tears from coming. She told herself, _Wait until the elf is gone. Then thou shall have every right to grieve._

"Tell your Lord Elrond," Artemis started, facing Legolas, "that we leave tomorrow at dusk."

"We shall throw a banquet tonight for your leave-taking—"

"No." her voice suddenly took on a low tone, and the temperature dropped. For a moment, it was as cold as a winter night, though it was in the middle of summer and the sun was still out. Artemis looked at Legolas evenly, her face no longer miserable. It shone with the glorious light of a goddess. But in that glow, there was a dark spot where all her troubles seemed to have settled. "Tonight," she said, "there will be no feasts, there will be no banquets, and there will be no celebrating. Tonight," her eyes fluttered back to look upon the peaceful state of Hayley's body. She said, "We will lay her spirit to rest."

"A burial, my lady?"

"No. No, absolutely not." She sounded angered by the idea, but she kept that anger in line as she continued. "We are to burn her, in a bonfire; that way her spirit may float to the heavens so that she may say goodbye to her father before going down to Elysium." None of the girls had left the dead one's side. None. And Senna seemed to be reconsidering the idea of kneeling by them and weeping, because Legolas was taking far too long. The whole while her heart ached.

"If I may ask, who was her father, my lady?" Legolas knew better than to think that her father had died by some unnatural cause. He knew that these girls were just as old as he, though possibly younger, but they had out-grew their parents. He knew that these girls had to wait as their parents grew old as they remained youthful and alive. Legolas never knew that feeling, for his parents were very much alive.

A shadow cast over Artemis' face when she heard him ask the question. That was when Legolas thought better than to ask whatever his curiosity desired. "Forgive me, Lady Artemis. I was out of line. I will no—"

"Her father was Hermes, god of messengers." It was not the goddess that had interrupted him and answered. It was Senna. And her voice was as cold as ever. Legolas couldn't help but smile at this. He thought she'd always be warm and fuzzy ever since their last conversation. How wrong he was. His glee was short-lived, however, when she started crying.

Artemis wrapped her arm around her shoulders and turned her away from him, and the last he saw of her face was the tears that streamed down her cheeks and the choked sobs that escaped her throat before the goddess swivelled her head to him and said in an authorative voice, "You may leave now, Legolas, prince of Mirkwood. Carry my words to Lord Elrond and make sure that everything is prepared for tonight."

"Yes, Lady Artemis."

He tried to leave. He honestly did. But some force, some kind of wall **(not literally)** was keeping him from exiting that room. When he turned away from the scene playing out in front of him, he couldn't move any further. When he lifted his foot to take one step forward, it felt numb, mechanical, almost.

Legolas took a deep breath, looked over his shoulder, and said, "My condolences to you and your Hunters, Lady Artemis." As soon as he said this, he walked away. Just like that.

"You must forgive them for being so frank with you, Greenleaf." Elrond said softly, offering the younger elf to take a seat. He did, and he gathered his robes about him as he spoke. "They are distraught." A moment of silence passed, filling the room with an eerie air of death, as if it had floated all the way there from the quarters of the healers. "It was much worse the last time they came here." Legolas raised his head but did not meet the lord's eyes, for they were closed, seemed to be reminiscing. He kept quiet then, not wanting to disturb, for he wanted to hear the story as much as Elrond wanted to keep it secret. "They came in the night. Such a majestic sight it was for all of us, I remember.

"They wore cloaks of grey and silver, very much unlike their clothing now. Artemis strode in the lead, a different lieutenant standing by her side, at the time." Elrond's eyes opened for a second, eyeing Legolas. "You know who her Lady's lieutenant was at the time?" Legolas shook his head. "It was Hayley."

"The one who died…" a cold claw gripped Greenleaf's heart as the reality of the situation hit him. No wonder so many tears were shed. She was the second in command, the elder sister, the protector when their mother was not there. What were they supposed to feel?

"She's not the only one they've lost in the past hundred years, you know." Legolas raised his head, and _this_ time, locked gazes with Elrond. It surprised him, the amount of sadness in his old eyes.

He gulped down his growing anxiety, rethinking everything he had wanted to know about these girl's lives and why. "How many?" he asked.

Elrond didn't reply at first, and Legolas appreciated this, for it gave him time to reconsider. But time proved too short, for the elder elf was talking before he could contradict. "It seemed that they had come from a great battle. The wounded they carried behind them in carriages not made for horses, and even the ones who were pulling them had suffered terrible wounds. The same went for Artemis.

"Her face was covered in grime and Ichor, the blood of the gods. Our finest healers came forward immediately, not even waiting for them to come any closer." A smile tugged at the corners of Elrond's mouth as he said, "Lady Artemis' name was not unfamiliar to elven ears. We knew better than to leave her to her own resources. And even then, our respect for the maiden goddess was too great for us to let her sisters die." Legolas watched as a crinkle appeared in the elder elf's brow. He watched as the corks and screws in his head were almost seen as the events played on, oblivious to Greenleaf's presence. "But even so, the Hunters paid a terrible price for their own lives.

"10."

"What?"

"They lost 10."

He was shocked. No, Legolas was more than just _shocked_. He was _mortified_; mortified for being foolish enough to know such things, when he knew that such memories did no good to the Lord Elrond's wellbeing. "That is very…" he couldn't find the right words. He didn't want to, actually. He didn't want to talk about such things anymore. "…Unfortunate." But he said it anyway. Because that's what he thought was the right thing to do, during the time.

"The world has been cruel to the Hunters as of late." Elrond stated, standing up. "Right after that, many of our female elves offered to join them, 20, as I recall. And just when we all thought that they were all headed on their merry hunting way, another war was waged. One which they could not hold back on. Another dozen was lost."

Legolas grimaced, imagining the depression they must have felt in losing so many allies in battle, the pain of thinking it was all going to be okay, but then realizing much too late that it wasn't. "What war was this, if I may ask?"

A shadow crossed the elder elf's face. Grim as a bat, he said, "Better for you not to know anything about what occurred in it." None spoke for a span of time, the only sounds coming from outside the doors as time moved on outside but seemed to be standing still inside. The air stilled. The birds stopped singing. In that moment, Elrond took something out of his robe's pocket. It shone in the palm of his hand as he held it towards Legolas.

The younger elf looked down at the bluish-green object. It was a stone of some sort, smooth to the touch, and as light as nothing when Elrond placed it on the pad of Legolas' finger. That was how small it was. It had lighter-coloured veins sprouting from the bottom, too, like little roots extending outwards from the inside. Little specks of light could be found floating around inside as well, making it look like it was once a tiny orb of water that had been frozen under countless years of perfection.

Nevertheless its beauty, Legolas was dumbstruck. He knew not what it was, nor what it was for, nor why Lord Elrond had given it to him. What could have been his reasoning? _What was it for_? The answer had not been given to him.

Only these words: "You will give this stone to the new lieutenant. Artemis is to assign one by the end of the night, but I want you to give it to whoever it is tomorrow before they leave." He stared at the elder with serious eyes, conveying his message carefully. "It isn't yours to keep, Greenleaf." He said, looking the younger elf straight in the eye, a firm grip as he held his smooth hands tight but with a gentle gleam behind his eyes. "It belongs to the maidens of the Hunt."

"I understand." Elrond left Legolas after that, saying that he had a ceremony to plan, also leaving Greenleaf alone with the stone, and his thoughts, as he stared down at it.

_An elf would have made this if it weren't so damn simple._ Elves were known as Middle Earth's perfectionists, meaning that if the artefact was something as common as a stone with something beautiful about it inside, it was impossible to have been elven craft. Anyone would have known it. _Except for a hobbit_, Legolas thought to himself, chuckling and tossing the stone to his other palm. Yes, a hobbit would have thought it something unimportant to anyone else. They would have kept it to themselves, most likely. Not one of their most likable traits.

Legolas put the crystalline pebble over his head and held it there, because even in the dimness he could see the golden specks inside it, clear as day, and it was a sight to behold, so up-close. He observed the feel of it under the pads of his fingertips, relished how cool and smooth it was, dreaded how light and completely-breakable it was. But then wasn't that what it was for? Surely such a beautiful thing would have to meet its end, meeting the ground time and time again until it broke? Something as fragile as it would not bear to fall more than thrice.

Among the many things Legolas had learned in his considerably short time in Middle Earth, is that everything, _everything_, was meant to be lost. The safety, the seas, the skies, the land, all of it was to be lost, one day. This was what the elves believed in, and this was what they waited for. It was what Legolas had been taught about all his life.

He allowed his hand to drop back down to his side, along with the stone still in his fingers, to slip into his pocket. It may have been that he did not know what it was, but he knew what he needed to do with it. Dusk was gathering outside, this he knew. And soon the time for the rite would come. Legolas gathered himself and decided that it would be better to make use of himself by helping the elves prepare for Hayley's leave-taking.

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**review please! i love reviews 3**

**I DO NOT OWN LOTR OR THE HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS. ONLY THE PLOT LINE OF THIS PARTICULAR STORY AND SENNA, AND MAYBE HAYLEY.**


	4. Chapter 4 - And Now Her Watch Has Ended

**I DO NOT OWN LOTR OR THE HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS, ONLY THE PLOTLINE, SENNA, AND HAYLEY.**

**try listening to the song Gone - Ionna Gika (it's not a very famous song, but i heard it from Snow White and The Huntsman and it's really perfect for the atmosphere in this chapter. (also it's the song they are singing by the end ;) )**

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Senna looked upon the clouds above that brimmed with hidden light and radiance and beauty, from a hill not far from the city of Rivendell. A book sat open and unread on her lap as she read instead the remaining birds and the gathering stars in the sky. Being one of the many curious people in the world, her mind wandered to dangerous places that begged her to ask such questions as: would the world remember its fallen? Or, when would be the end of time? Or, even, will men ever try to be intelligent?

She kept her eyes up the whole while, wondering whether children liked their mothers or their fathers more, or whether the sun would win over a god, or even whether a young pup would outwit a fox…

… Or whether Hayley was getting impatient with her leave-taking ceremony. The elves _were_ taking their time on it, and Senna was thankful that they were giving their effort on it, but honestly, all the whole company wanted to do was be done with it and leave. They wanted nothing more so special about it, just a bonfire, the words any of them had missed the chance to tell Hayley, and then that was it. Or, at least, that's how it's supposed to be. There's supposed to be nothing more with it.

Nothing more, and nothing less.

Twiddling the corners of the pages with her fingers, she thought of a time long ago, a time in which she still had not, nor _needed_,to see the death of her sisters-in-arms.

She thought of the time when the girls taught her how to make a fire.

_ Winter was already setting in, and the mountains were where she learned the Hunters' stayed at most. With these conditions in mind, the temperature was freezing. So, naturally, they collected some wood and set to it on building a campfire. Tents had already been pitched around a circular empty space, a hollow hole dug for the firewood to be put in and two handfuls of pebbles placed around it. All that was left was the kindling and the actual fire._

_ That was when Artemis handed Senna some kindling and a bundle of sticks._

_ "I don't know how, my La—"_

_ "Learn."_

_ Senna made it a point to obey because she had looked up to the goddess so much, it would have practically been a crime for her if she hadn't at least tried. So, doing the first obvious thing, Senna set down the firewood and the sticks, and piled the pieces of kindling beside each other, putting up enough space so that the fire would be able to breathe, inside the pit._

_ "Very good." One of the girls said behind her. She knew it wasn't Artemis. It wasn't her voice. But she didn't turn around to find out either. "Do you know what to do next?"_

_ She then stayed quiet for a long while, just staring at the pile she had built successfully so far. "Uh…" How humiliating the feeling had been, to be sitting under a hawk's eye, just like that, ready to be preyed upon. Something caught her eye, then; two pieces of rough stray pebbles that had slanted away from the otherwise perfect formation. Finally getting the idea, Senna picked them both up into both her tiny hands, and, with one, very anti-climactic, rub, sparks flew and landed smoothly onto the kindling._

_ Clearly excited, as it had been her first time, her first try, she held back her giggle, cupped her hands in front of her mouth, and gave the slowly-spreading blaze a soft blow. And then another. Then another. Soon there was a warm fire burning through the thinly placed sticks in the pit._

_ Grinning from cheek-to-cheek, Senna gingerly put the two stones back into place before finally turning around and facing her instructor who hadn't actually taught her anything._

Senna was brought back to the present by the grass shift right beside her. And despite the fact that it had only been the slightest movement, she had sensed it. Such was the benefits of swearing loyalty to Artemis.

She did not sense anything malicious about the presence that had so bravely made itself known, however. The butterfly's wing brushed against Senna's wrist. Dipping the crook of her finger low, she was able to pick it up and settle it on her shoulder. It was much larger than the ones she had normally seen in places not in Middle Earth, also much more beautiful.

And Senna closed her eyes then, because the colour of the sunset-dipped clouds reminded her of the wonderful tone of the dying embers, and the sound of the wind blowing across the terrain whispered to her how much she had to lose if she lost the sky, and the feel of the butterfly's wings flapping against her cheek reminded her of the dewy grass that was the first thing she felt when she woke up in the morning the night-after her first time spending the night with the Hunters. She remembered how alive she felt the minute her eyes fluttered open because the first face she saw was her Lady Artemis'.

"Wake up," she had said, and it brought a smile to Senna's face just hearing her voice.

But then she saw Hayley's face cut into view, because that was the face she had seen when she turned around after making her very first fire. "It just comes naturally to you, does it not, little dove?" Hayley had ruffled Senna's hair as she said these words before moving on to help catch game.

A tear fell from Senna's eye, but she blinked the rest away before they could follow. Honestly, no more tears needed to be shed. Or, at least, until the ceremony was over with. She bent her head to the side and eyed the butterfly thoughtfully, looking at everything about it that made it so beautiful, because she wanted to remember it for as long as she could, before cupping both hands over and under it, taking one last look at it under her lashes, and letting it fly away.

Seconds passed, then minutes. Senna never looked away from the sun. It was now dipping low over the horizon, and she knew that as soon as it disappeared, she would have to stroll back to the city, and be strong. It was getting harder and harder to do that. But she knew that it was for the best of everyone else. It was something Hayley always used to tell her…

"Thou should be strong."

"Thou should be strong for the rest of us."

"Thou should be strong like Lady Artemis."

Senna smiled. _How I want to be so._ It was over, the sunset, replaced by the glowing white ball now high in the sky, and the clouds replaced by billions and billions of stars. Though there were still some left. They glided slowly in the background, heading for nowhere in particular. Senna couldn't help but feel sentimental, because, in a way, the Hunters could be described like that.

_Heading for nowhere in particular…_ Senna found her thoughts going to a gloomier direction, for the second time now. She decided to stop thinking all together. Staring at the moon, she leaned back, propped her feet over one another, put her arms behind her head, lied down on the grass, and sighed. She didn't need to go back into the city yet. The horns had not yet been sounded. She knew that her sisters would blow on them as soon as the ceremony was about to begin, because they would notice, and would know, that Senna wasn't there. It was their call to each other, during battle, and during the aftermath.

A bird flitted by, flying out of the confines of the leaves of a tree somewhere nearby. Senna gazed after it as it flew farther and farther away, its frenzied heartbeat the only thing she wanted to focus on to calm herself down. It worked, and Senna closed her eyes because she wanted the silence to never end. She could no longer hear the bird's heartbeat, or its flapping, or anything else. And she allowed herself to close her eyes, her consciousness wandering to the shallower depths of the void.

One of life's best moments passed her by when a loud sound interrupted the solemnity of the clearing. Her ears rang as the final strains of the vibration's waves ended, and Senna forced herself out of her doze.

It was time. And she hated that it was. Sitting up, she looked up one last time at the moon. It belonged to Lady Artemis, and it was holy, and was just as beautiful as she. Senna whispered a silent prayer for herself and her sisters. She didn't want to lose anyone else. And as the face of her fallen comrade, Hayley, pushed its way back into her head, Senna turned around and walked back to Rivendell.

The Hunters all stood in front of the huge bonfire their Lady Artemis had started, their tear-filled eyes following the body that was being brought into the clearing by a handful of elves. Senna walked behind them, her own eyes never leaving the fire. Because she didn't know if she could take the blow that was bound to arrive if she turned her gaze to Hayley's face. The tears were already threatening to spill. It took all her strength to keep them at bay. But it wasn't like the heat that radiated from the blaze helped at all. Stray embers pricked her skin as the elves set Hayley's body down.

Someone walked up to her then. Senna knew that it was Artemis. She did not turn to look at her, however. The pain was too much to bear. For both of them, she knew. But she also knew that it had to be done.

So, as she and her other sisters-at-arms said their final prayers to their dead ally, Legolas watched it all unfold, standing at the side-lines with Lord Elrond and Lady Arwen. His hands were fists that hung limply at his sides, while his eyes were stone that stiffly followed the movements of the girl who had appointed herself to be the stronger. Senna, whose hands had run through her hair distressfully as the elves picked up Hayley's body and were preparing to lay it in the fire, met his eyes for a fraction of a second. But that was enough. Every unsaid word, and every unfelt emotion, seemed to pass through the two souls and embed themselves into their already shattering hearts. A tear fell from Senna's eye, and Legolas' lips were curved into an ungraceful grimace as the fire parted.

And while he did not question it, the elves that carried Hayley's body did, their heads swivelling around to cast questioning looks to Elrond. The Lord nodded his head. From the corner of his eye, Legolas saw the Lady Artemis look up to the dark skies with tears in her eyes, three words on her lips. And during that moment Greenleaf's curiosity won out and he focused his hearing on the words that slipped through the goddess' mouth like honey. "_Teque, Hestia, mater arula_," she said.

He understood none of it. At least, not until Elrond leaned down and muttered into his ear. He said, "She is thanking Hestia, goddess of the hearth and the flame." Legolas did not need to ask why it was him whom she thanked. Because he understood everything; the youths who had joined hands as they started humming a tune he didn't recognize, Hayley's body that had not yet started burning—for the flames had not devoured her yet—, Senna, who had finally let the tears fall, and the unfamiliar weight that had started pulling his pocket down. It was where he hid the stone in, and he was aware of it starting to radiate a strange form of heat. A tickling sensation had started brushing against his pelvis, and Legolas knew that it originated from the heat coming off of the stone.

He could only hope that it wouldn't get any hotter.

A cold draft chilled Senna's tear-stained cheeks as the fire slowly started to close over Hayley's face. It was the only thing she could see, and the cracks of the flames the only thing she could hear. The more she stared, the more heartbreaking it became. She was aware of Artemis standing across the fire and doing the same thing as she, but maybe more wisely preserving her dignity.

The blaze licked at Hayley's arms, now, eating her up inch by inch. Senna was torn, half of her wanting to pull their lieutenant out of the fire, and half of her just wanting to let the body burn and the soul to be at peace. Either way, she didn't want to feel so _broken_ anymore. She eventually had to look away, because the sight of her comrade's skin starting to blister killed her more than anyone knew. Senna didn't know how long she could take, now.

As far as she knew, the other girls were holding their ground, and, despite their chest-racking sobs, they had started humming the melody of nature's song. It was something that had been passed down to the Hunters from Artemis, something that was never supposed to escape any Hunters' lips under the eyes of a mortal, something that could only be sung to earth's servants. It was everything that made up the world. And, like the world, it had its beginning strains.

Senna waited for someone to start singing, but no one did. She was also aware of the godly aura that emanated from Lady Artemis, who was just beside her and looking down at the oldest member of her sisters-in-arms. Senna stared back. None of them needed to say a word. She started:

_Dark the stars and dark the moon…_

Legolas snapped his head up as soon as he heard the voice. How high-pitched it was, how fragile it seemed to be coming from the mouth of someone who must have been old and strong. There were no weaklings in their presence. But what surprised him was when he found out that it was Senna who was singing, melodizing so beautifully that even the chirping of the birds and the clicking of the crickets and the crackling of the fire had stopped and listened. Legolas soon found himself carried to another world as she continued.

_Hush the night and morning loon._

_Tell the horses and beat on your drum,_

_Gone their master, gone their sun…_

The fact that she was singing didn't erase the fact that her heart was being torn into a million pieces. As her voice rung in the air with the final notes of the last line of the previous stanza, her chest denied her request in not hurting anymore. In fact, it started hurting more than it did before. However, she didn't stop singing. She _couldn't_ stop singing. It was imperative for the melody to be finished as the lost one burned, the soul being carried to the heavens by the sounds of the song. She made herself think of this fact, that if she didn't sing then Hayley wouldn't reach Olympus. They all knew how much her father meant to her. She would have wanted to say goodbye before going to the Elysian Fields. It didn't lessen the agony in her chest.

_Dark the oceans, dark the sky…_

Legolas noticed that her voice seemed to have dropped an octave, but didn't question it. No one dared to speak; not even the Lord Elrond. He watched and listened with sad eyes and attentive ears.

_Hush the whales and the ocean tide._

_Tell the salt marsh and beat on your drum,_

The fire blazed brighter as they sang, he observed.

_Gone their master, gone their sun…_

The melody picked up a notch, the girls' mouths opening to create melodies with their tongues, not at all humming anymore. He noted the tears had gone from their eyes, but the sorrow in the air was undoubtedly still there.

_Dark to light and light to dark,_

_Three black carriages, three white carts…_

_What brings us together is what pulls us apart._

_Gone our sister, gone our hearts._

Senna paused, surprised to hear that Artemis had started singing the lines with her. It eased her heart a bit, being reminded that she was not alone.

_Hush the whales and the ocean tide._

_Tell the salt marsh and beat on your drum,_

And so, before finishing the final strains of the song, she gathered herself and looked around, taking in the sight of her sisters melodizing with her, being there with her. Just _being_.

The ghost of a smile crept up her lips as she sang the final line of the hymn, savouring the feel of it escaping her throat and the taste of the words on her tongue. She closed her eyes.

_Gone their master, gone their sun…_

Nothing else remained in the flames; nothing but the empty ashes that meant nothing to anyone anymore. Senna looked up, watching as the last sparks of the fire flew up, knowing that the final residue of Hayley's soul was soaring upwards as well.

Up, and up, and up… she watched on until they were gone from her sight, tiny specks of light in the vast blackness of the night sky. Her heart ached, then ebbed, then ached again until when the pain came it was nothing new to her. To her, this seemed horrid. Senna made up and believed the fact that she was just tired, and that she needed to rest for the night.

Alas, the night was not over for her yet. Because, as Legolas stared up at the stars, he lowered his gaze back down to the ground as Artemis stepped forward, right into the pit that's fire had stopped burning, stepping on the ashes as if it had not previously been the body of their fallen comrade. Legolas did not understand. But she stood taller still, her voice low and not as loud as Legolas would have hoped. He knew why. He understood. What she was about to say was not meant for the ears of the elves.

"Lord Elrond…" he heard her murmur. Elrond heard this, apparently, and a few minutes later all the elves but he and Legolas had left the clearing. Why he had not been forced to leave, he knew not why, but no one denied him his right to keep his feet on that ground, and so he minded it not.

"Hunters!" she stated clearly, not holding back anymore since they were the only people there. "We have suffered a terrible loss, the loss of one of our sisters." She gulped before continuing. "May she rest in peace in Elysium."

"_Quae pax, requiescat in_." This line was recited by each and every one of the youths at the same time, much like a prayer. Legolas grew curious as to what it meant.

"But now," Artemis said, "is also the time to choose a new lieutenant."

Legolas stilled, and turned his head to look at Elrond. The elder elf nodded his head, and no other words were spoken by the two as Greenleaf waited for a name.

* * *

**translations:**

**"_Teque, Hestia, mater arula_" - "I thank thee, Hestia, mother of the hearth"**

**"_Quae pax, requiescat in_" - "May she rest in peace"**

**reviews please! :((**


	5. Chapter 5 - Thanks for the Memories

**last cha :3**

**and i know that not many people read this, but i'm doing this because i want to**

**hope you like it :)**

**I DO NOT OWN LOTR or PJ IN ANY WAY. I ONLY OWN THE PLOTLINE OF THIS STORY, SENNA, AND HAYLEY. NOTHING MORE.**

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The steadily-rising sun shone bright in front of them, its rays casting soft shadows against the few trees that stood in the clearing with them; it promised the start of a new day, one that hopefully wouldn't end as grimly as the Hunters' previous did. Artemis silently prayed to her father for a new beginning, a fresh start. Her sisters gravely needed it.

And so, as they all sat on snow-white horses as majestic as the morning sun itself, their silver manes golden in the sunlight, a gentle breeze swept the grass still soaked in dew, filling their noses with the coppery scent of the wild. It kindled a lighter fire in them, slowly blazing through their veins as the memories from the days before vanished but never really left them.

All was silent in the field, then, nothing but the sounds of the horses' heavy breathing and the heartbeat of the wilderness itself. Everything was alive, the previous night nothing more than a memory. Artemis stared at the rising sun, a small smile playing on her lips. She knew who rode it.

Senna sat on her horse as well beside the goddess, her hair the perfect match for the mane of the animal she rode. "The elves would better confuse thee to be the _anima ascensorem_ of their horse, no?" Artemis had told her, coaxing a laugh that lifted her spirits more than she could have hoped. Her debt would never truly be paid. The goddess was the reason the Olympians gave her to smile.

There was no equal payment that could be given.

Her horse bristled underneath her, signalling that he—as Artemis had suggested that it was a stallion—was getting rather impatient. She looked to the woman beside her and found the goddess' eyes already turned to her. "My lady?" she immediately asked, her eyebrows furrowing together in concern. Had she done something to displease?

Her worrying ceased when a smile graced her features, the dark veil that overshadowed her face fading away just as quickly as it came. She said, her teeth flashing, "You've forgotten something."

A moment of confusion came for the young Huntress, for she forgot nothing at all. In fact, she didn't bring anything else but her bow when they arrived in the outskirts of the city, her knapsack, containing nothing else but the necessities needed for their journey, long forgotten in the woods from whence they barely escaped from.

"My Lady, I—" She was then more or less interrupted by the sound of thundering hooves approaching, and behind that, the rough and heavy breathing of one particularly familiar elf. Senna didn't even have to turn her head to know who it was. Bowing her head slightly to Artemis, she excused herself from the goddess' presence and turned around. And there he was.

Mounted atop a horse that had a coat as black as the night sky in the south, and eyes as blue as the icy glaciers in the north, Legolas gripped the reins tighter as her eyes fell upon him. He felt it, her gaze, penetrate deep as it always had, and revelled in the feeling. He knew this was the last time he ever would. "Lady Senna!" he shouted, the call managing a straight path from his lips and into her ears.

She grew still as he drew close, the horse near enough for its hooves to send the ground trembling with each step it took that wasn't anywhere near as light as its masters'. It slowed its pace five yards away from the female company, its galloping turning into a gentle trot. And then it stopped completely. Its head bowed low in exhaustion, low enough that Senna could feel its hot breath fan her face. She met its blue gaze with her own, and, for a second, felt warmth touch every nerve in her body. In the next second, however, she was staring into Legolas' grey eyes.

"Greetings, son of Thranduil." She said warily, aware of the amount of space between them and that it was not at all appropriate for a male elf and a Huntress.

Breathing raggedly, Legolas replied, "And to you as well, Senna." He was compelled, in a moment of stupidity, to take a step forward, planning on pulling the girl in for a hug. How foolish of him indeed! The dark haze clouding his mind seemed to disappear as soon as Senna took two steps back.

Legolas wondered, then, if it could be considered odd that, as soon as she did this, a sharp stab of pain struck him hard in the chest.

With a tight smile, he understood the cause of her actions, and took two steps back as well, providing before them a girth wide enough for one to scan the other without difficulty. And Legolas did exactly this.

She was breath-taking. Absolutely marvellous. Her silver hair, though drawn back in a loose braid, looked like flame in the dawn's sun. The blue of her eyes showed specks of gold behind them, seen clearly even from afar. Everything was different about her, and yet she had nothing changed; nothing but the silver circlet that was perched so perfectly on her head. He saw this, and was sure. Elrond had told him to wait until the morning of their leave if it was to be her who was chosen, and it was her.

Senna narrowed her eyes at the odd look on the elf's face. If it weren't for the surprisingly heavier gravity that held her feet locked in place and the powerful eyes she felt boring into the back of her head, she would have turned around again and mounted her horse, leading the Huntresses away from the place without saying goodbye to the man that would not, _could_ not, move his gaze elsewhere. Senna didn't know what to fear more, the silver eyes of the woman she had come to see as her mother as well as her sister, or the stormy grey ones that gazed upon her as if the North Star itself had flew down from the heavens and placed itself on top of her head.

What was she to do?

"Legolas." She stated sternly, a shadow casting over her face because she knew Artemis was getting upset at the way he looked at her.

What had she done?

"Legolas!" That forced him from his trance, and rightfully so. Her hands were starting to shake with fury. The look that appeared on his face, however, softened her heart.

He was shocked, _appalled_. How long had he been staring at her? He knew that it was completely wrong for a Hunter to think of a man that way, and yet why was he there at that moment? What had he gotten himself into? This girl was supposed to mean nothing more to him, nothing more than a friend. Yet there he was, practically ogling her! Oh, how he wished he could just turn his head away in shame, just turn around and walk away and forget he had ever met her. It would prove less trouble for the Huntress. She made a vow, and he didn't want to be the reason for her to break it.

But Legolas couldn't leave. He was sent there to do something, and he would do it. Oh, but how torn he was! Between the two choices of not doing anything and letting them, _her_, leave, without anything else but a goodbye as he had wanted to say something much more, and looking into her eyes and giving her the prized object that Lord Elrond thought was meant to be given to her, what was he to choose?

The latter, of course.

"Forgive me, Lady Senna." His hands trembled as much as his voice as they crawled into his pocket, feeling for the stone that was destined to belong to someone else. "Lord Elrond sent me…" Legolas held fast before the stone could slip away from his grasp once more, as it had times before while he just stared blankly at the ground because he couldn't force himself to look into her eyes again. "Lord Elrond sent me to give you this." He pulled the tiny sapphire thing out of his pocket with ease, and let it slip onto the centre of his palm where Senna could easily see it.

And saw it she did.

It was something she had only heard of in folklore and fairytales, stories her sisters had told around the bonfire during dark nights, saying that its light could shine through even the darkest of caves.

"A tiny thing, it is." Senna remembered Hayley telling her. "But then, that's what other people say about hope as well, little dove. Remember, that when everything may seem bleak, when all hope seems to be lost, there is always a small light penetrating the darkness. And it will guide thee some place where the sky is blue and the pastures are green."

Senna could barely hold back a gasp as the stone seemed to call to her; the veins buried beneath the surface glowed white, and even the string tied around it into a knot that made it look like a necklace seemed to take on a soft luminosity. It hummed softly on Legolas' hand, making him smile, because it had found its owner at last. Elrond had told him that its past was not one he would have wanted to hear, that it had been lost for many years, and that as soon as he gave it to Senna, it would be found. The Lord spoke as if the very object was alive.

"He…" Senna gulped down the growing lump in her throat, her eyes bulging out as she stared at the stone on his palm. "He wanted you to give this to _me_?"

"Yes."

She couldn't believe it. The stone had no name. No one ever knew its name. Lady Artemis refused to tell her anything about it. And yet here it sat before her on the skin of someone she had come to call a friend, humming with life, _calling_ to her to just take it. Senna knew that the elves and Lord Elrond would never hurt them, so no suspicions came when she took the stone between her thumb and forefinger, her skin barely brushing against Legolas' as she pulled it off of his hands.

The little thing felt cool in her fingertips, but beneath her skin, running through her veins, there was warmth that she had never felt before. It pumped through her, filling her completely to the brim. Her hold on the stone tightened, and when the adrenaline rush was over, she looked up and gazed into the prince elf's eyes, no longer afraid, yet not entirely willing at the same time.

"You must send Lord Elrond my eternal gratitude." Senna said with true appreciation in her voice, and it was enough.

Legolas inclined his head. "I think it was never meant to be found by us. It belongs to you and your sisters now."

"All the same."

There was that burning sensation in his chest again, the pit in his stomach that all but refused to go away elsewhere. Legolas knew enough to not let his feelings for the girl get the best of him. It couldn't be love. It was forbidden. He didn't want this for her. _Do not succumb,_ he told himself, shaking his head and tearing his gaze away from her eyes, instead to look upon the company that remained waiting behind her.

"You are leaving."

"Yes."

It wasn't meant to be a question, but the elven prince was thankful for her answer. It helped him come to terms with the realization that they were leaving, that _she_ was leaving. He cleared his throat and pulled up a smile as forged as snow during spring time, and said, "Is a goodbye in order then?"

Senna closed her eyes, because she knew that the worst was about to happen and she wasn't heartless enough to push him away. She hated that fact, and she hated that she couldn't do anything to change it. A sigh escaped her lips, and, steeling herself, she took a step forward, and another, and another, and another; until finally, she had come to stand beside Legolas, whose gaze had never left her face as hers never wavered from his eyes; if he was about to make a move she'd know it before even he himself did. For a brief second, however, she was able to tear her eyes away from his and look to Artemis.

The goddess had not moved from her place on her horse. In fact, she wasn't even watching the two's exchange. Her hands gripped the reins, her chin was held high, and her gaze was on the horizon. But even then she seemed to sense Senna's eyes on her, for she said, in a low tone, "Say your farewells, Senna. We won't be coming back here for quite a long while." Her face remained as blank as ever as it was illuminated by the dawn's rays.

And that was when Senna knew.

That was when Senna knew, for sure, that she couldn't stay; that her feelings for this man she barely knew would never equal to the bond she had for Artemis and for the Hunters, her family. Her feelings could not grow to be something more, because it was meant to be left alone, not to blossom like any other flower. It was a stone, a burden. And as much as she knew that this realization would hurt him, it was true. He knew it, and she knew it, and for the first time in her life, she was unhappy that Artemis was right. But then, she always was.

This man was only meant to be a friend, an ally, nothing more.

Senna could accept that. She just wished she didn't have to in such a damn short amount of time. Moving her gaze back to the elf who had placed himself right in front of her, she grew aware once again of the amount of space between them.

Smiling, she took a step back and pulled the necklace over her head, letting the feeling of the stone settle on the hollow of her throat before speaking. "I thank thee, Legolas, son of Thranduil, for bringing me this." She was surprised that her voice came out so clear and silky. "But we really should be leaving. When the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, we must be miles gone from this city."

"Why?"

It was surprising how one word could easily be the undoing of her. But she kept her head, and answered evenly, "Lady Artemis agrees with us on the fact that we've already taken and asked so much from thy people. And besides, it is not in the Hunters' ways to stay in one place for too long." The sadness in Legolas' eyes was mortifying, enough for Senna to think twice, but in the end it wasn't enough, and she stayed true to her word. She would not leave her sisters.

While her eyes stung with newfound tears, she steeled herself and, finally, she said, "Goodbye, Legolas."

No tears spilled forth from the eyes of the elven prince, and he was thankful for that. He had not wept in many, many years, and how odd it would be indeed if this girl, a Huntress sworn to forever turn her back on the company of men, would be the one to break him so easily. He didn't want to feel so forlorn anymore, and in a weak attempt of easing the pain, he forced out a throaty chuckle and said, "That is only the third time you ever called me by my birth name."

It worked, for, say, a fraction of a second when a grin tugged at the corner of her lips. It never continued wounding its way to her eyes though. It stayed there, unmoving, as her eyes never moved from his face. They were easily the same height, but Legolas suddenly felt smaller underneath her calculating gaze.

His expression darkened, and he finally forced himself to say it. He knew he was only delaying the inevitable. They would leave no matter what he did. And besides, what were the elves to do when the goddess Artemis were to wage war against them because of his mistake of falling in love with one of her Hunters?

He had to let her go.

"Goodbye, Senna."

Just like that, the weight on his chest disappeared, coolness instead travelling through his veins and numbing his heart like morphine to a dying man.

He smiled tightly. "Perhaps we will meet again in the distant future, yes?" He struggled with himself, but it happened anyway. His hand had levitated away from his side and moved to cup her cheek. Fear took over, because he knew that it wouldn't end well for them then, more for her than for him. Yet she didn't fight it. Senna didn't move away, and soon enough his fingers made contact, setting fire to her skin where it held on. She shivered. There was a moment of silence between them, and when Senna couldn't bring herself to look upon his face once more Legolas had that kind of strength. But in their situation, one would have to debate whether it was strength or irrationality. Either way, his eyes bore into her. She could see her better then, and he knew that it would be the last time he would ever see her in that kind of light again.

Senna stared at the ground, her eyes closed as she imprinted the feeling of her skin being set alight by the mere proximity of his cool, gentle hand. "Perhaps." Though it was a whisper, her voice wavered. She knew her mistress was watching. When his thumb brushed against her chin, she was brought back to reality, and just like that the mind-numbing feeling of his hand was gone. Her shoulder bumped against his roughly as Senna walked past him, swallowing the lump in her throat and striding away from her feelings.

Legolas dropped his head low when she turned and started walking away, knowing that he wouldn't be able to catch himself a second time if he continued boring his eyes into her back. It would have been a useless and desperate attempt, to torture her like that just to get her to stay. It was something he refused to do. Because she wanted to leave, and Legolas could respect that.

Senna listened to the grass and twigs crunch beneath her boots, not bearing to listen to his heartbeat any longer. The tiny pebble on her neck now felt as heavy as an entire glacier. But then, it could have been her heart weighing her down. It was too early to tell. She felt no eyes on her, not even Artemis', not even her sisters'. Only when she pulled herself back up her silver horse did she regain the strength to bring her head up. She was right though. None of them were looking at her. They all sat on their horses as if nothing had happened. Artemis looked straight ahead, down the hill they were to embark on, her eyebrows furrowed into a straight line. That was when Senna knew she wasn't going to be let off so easily.

And as the girl mounted her horse Legolas mounted his own, thoughts of the feel of her skin underneath his blurring his thoughts. The reins were hard caught with his hands slick with sweat, but he held fast and balanced himself on the steed before he fell off. He had done enough.

"You should not have let him touch you." Artemis pointed out with a gentle, but firm voice. "I was beginning to think you were about to leave us and I would have to turn you into a beaver."

Despite the mixed feelings in her chest, the very thought of Artemis even thinking that she would leave appalled her. "I would never leave you, my Lady," Senna said. Her words had never held so much truth as it did that moment. Artemis saw this, and nodded her head. But this did not erase the feeling of the cold claw of fear taking hold of her heart. Nothing else would truly make your blood go cold than the thought of your only family thinking you were about to leave them. Senna would never.

She wasn't that kind of heartless person who would turn her back on someone who had given her a reason to live truly.

"I made an oath that I would never leave you, that I would always forsake the company of men. You told me that only the deserving only ever deserve our presence. These elves are deserving then, are they not?" She hadn't meant for it to go that far, but it did, and Artemis nodded her head again. Senna barely noticed the gleam in her eye. "I found a companion in the son of Thranduil, nothing more, my Lady." She met the goddess' gaze evenly, a deep sense of respect and love coating every single word of her statement: "I will never leave thee, Lady Artemis."

The silence that followed was completely mortifying, enough to make Senna turn her gaze away from the goddess' and into the horizon that slowly made its way to its peak. They were late.

"That is good." Artemis' voice broke through the muteness and rang clear in Senna's head. She turned to smile at the girl adoringly. "I would have hated to lose my newest lieutenant so soon."

The Hunters spurred their horses, casting their eyes toward each other, knowing there were not many of them left, but that they were enough. Family didn't have to contain millions to be great. They trotted away from the city, then, down the hill and heading towards the North Star, no longer visible in the orange sky of the dawn. That didn't stop them from knowing where it was. It was all but an instinct then.

Legolas stayed rooted at his spot a few yards away, far enough for them to think he had actually left. He hadn't. He couldn't. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Not until the girl he had thought he could give his heart to be out of sight. However, she would never be out of mind. He knew he would remember her face for as long as his elven life would let him, and he could only hope that she would do the same with their memories as well. The horse underneath him neighed and shifted uneasily, while his heart was stone cold and numb.

The feeling was frightful.

So he did the only thing he could to bring back the emotions he longed to be returned to him, but would not bring _her_ back, for they had already disappeared over and under the hills far away from where he sat.

He yelled. At the top of his lungs, he yelled, breaking all sorts of composure he had spent a millennia building up. The vastness of the pastures carried out his cry, echoing across the peaks and into the sky, where the birds would have heard but wouldn't have understood the reason of his lamentations. He would have cried again and again and they still wouldn't have taken to mind the shard that was buried so deep in his heart.

She had left. And the only remembrance he had of her was the memory of her voice, while the only remembrance she had of him was the stone that felt like ice around her neck.

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**translation:**

**"___anima_ ascensorem" - spirit animal**

**sooo that's it! :D hope you enjoyed reading this story!**

**P.S. the stone/gem/magical blue pebble is kind of made up, but there's a hidden meaning behind it if you wanted to know ;)**


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